


Small Reconciliations

by medomai



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 17:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10541394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medomai/pseuds/medomai
Summary: Sara and Reyes talk through betrayal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There's some dialogue from in-game, y’all can figure it out, you’re smart. Had this ready to go in my brain. Alas, no sex in this one, but perhaps in a later installment! I'm not usually one for writing things that are basically canon-compliant, but there must be firsts for everything. These are some things I wish had been discussed a little more in depth in the game.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone.” From the shadows of the cavern, Reyes Vidal steps forward.

Her stomach drops, instantly making the connection. Though she understands, something in her brain is stopping her from following that thought through to its logical end. There is a stranger wearing Reyes’ face, speaking with Reyes’ voice, saying his words, looking through his eyes. He isn’t looking at her like Reyes does, he didn’t say his line like Reyes would. 

Her inner monologue repeats everything she’s ever feared her teammates thought of her, raising the volume until it’s a scream. _You idiot. He was using you. You stupid bitch. Of course he doesn’t actually like you. He just needed the Pathfinder to help him._ There’s a cold pit in her gut, growing colder and heavier until she thinks she’s going to throw up. 

She barely even hears Sloane’s insult before she verbalizes what she’s just understood. He’s the Charlatan. “They’re one and the same.”

“Surprise,” he says, none of his playful inflection present here. 

“This whole time…” A roar is building in her ears, rage tightening her throat so much that it hurts to speak. “You’ve been lying to me.”

He takes his attention off of Sloane to finally look at her. Facing down his mortal enemy and an angry Pathfinder, and he’s almost placid. “Not about everything. You know who I really am.” 

She repeats that to herself, incredulous. _You know who I really am?_ What the hell was that supposed to mean? As if he wasn’t _actually_ a gangster leading his people into a war threatening to engulf the whole planet? How was that any less real than the face he’d shown her?

Sara numbly watches the two of them face off. Just two minutes ago, she hadn’t given a single damn about how this was going to turn out. Just two criminals getting rid of each other. Easy and totally guilt-free. 

“You said you wanted to ‘settle things.’ How?” asks Sloane.

Reyes jumps down from his vantage point. “A duel. You and me. Right now. Winner takes Kadara Port.” 

Sara interrupts despite herself. “You want to avoid war by shooting each other?”

“Two people shooting each other is better than a lot of people shooting each other,” says Reyes, and to her own surprise, she’s relieved. As far as reasons go, that’s… worthy.

Sloane only needs a second to consider it. “I’ll take those terms.”

They start circling. Sara almost wants to laugh at how melodramatic her life has just become. Literally circling like cowboys in those old vids Scott liked. A glint catches her eye and her amusement cuts itself off before it really had a chance to breathe. SAM’s voice in her ear is dependably calm. “Sniper. His sights are set on Sloane.”

She only has a second to decide what she wants to do. Sara freezes to the spot, knowing what she’s already chosen and hating herself for it. Her eyes lock onto the sniper, and she listens to Sloane die rather than watch. It’s the most cowardly thing she’s ever done.

“Bang.” Reyes is playful in his moment of victory. Of course he is. 

She watches the sniper walk forward to receive his orders from Reyes.“Get her out of here. Prepare the crew. Kadara Port is ours tonight.” 

Reyes is walking away. She takes Reyes’ unspoken invitation and follows after him. She dislikes how similar it feels to every time they’ve walked away from their other work together, and how it makes it feel like she’s backing him up. She’s trembling with dozens of emotions all vying to be first. She thought she might be mute with fury, too angry to speak, but as soon as it feels like they have some privacy, she snaps.

“Guess you got everything you wanted.” Even she’s surprised at how bitter she sounds.

“What I want is peace. Sloane would’ve brought war to Heleus. We don’t have the population to survive that.” He’s not thrown. He has an answer, and is assured in his righteousness when he says it. He’s a leader; she strives for that level of certainty whenever she talks to any of her own people. She can’t even find fault in that. She agrees. She doesn’t disagree with anything he did today, except for lying to her about it. 

And that’s the rub. That’s a good answer. Sara thinks his point about Sloane is well-made. But does he really believe that, or did he just say it because he knows she would like that answer?

 _Why didn’t you trust me?_ She changes her wording last second. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She’s louder than she intended, voice breaking with hurt that roils up lightning fast. “What is - is the Charlatan - is Reyes even your real name?” She’s embarrassed of how unraveled she sounds, but her anger doesn’t care. Her face is burning hot.

He falters for the first time, turning around to look her in the eye properly. “I didn’t tell you because… I liked the way you looked at me. I was afraid that would change.” He hesitates. “Reyes is what my mother calls me. It’s my real name.”

She believes him, and nods slowly. “Okay. Okay. Reyes. Charlatan. Reyes.”

“...Ryder?” he asks. She knows it’s petty to enjoy his apprehension. He lied to her about being a crime boss; he can sweat for a minute.

“Sara. Pathfinder. Sara.” She repeats her own tone. Before he can say anything else, she lifts a hand. “So, the, um. Freeing Vehn Terev. The Roekaar murders. Those were - you were undercutting Sloane’s authority. That’s clever.”

He wisely says nothing, eyes locked solemnly on her face. 

She’s almost too scared to ask what she really wants to ask, but she’s had enough of being a coward for one day. “Reyes. Did you only help me with those things because it would help you move against Sloane and the Outcasts?”

His expression relaxes with a blink. “What? I - no. No, of course not. Those things needed to be solved. The fact that Sloane _wasn’t_ doing it just made my job easy.”

“Because it matters to me,” she says. “That the angara have freedom, and that we get along with their people, and that we listen to them in a city that should belong to them.”

“That matters to me, too,” he says slowly.

Sara narrows her eyes. “It was a big deal to me that Sloane charged protection money, and that her Outcasts beat people in the street, and dumped people in slums.”

He’s nodding along with her. “That will stop tonight,” he says. 

“Will it?” she challenges.

He doesn’t look away. “It will.”

“We’ll talk about an outpost?” She says it with a question, and immediately regrets it. The outpost is a big deal, Reyes knows it’s a big deal to her, he knows she wants the Initiative here. 

“An outpost you shall _certainly_ have,” he says agreeably. “Details to come later?”

“Okay,” she says. “Okay. That’s good.” That’s what she needed from him. As she says that, hope starts to bloom on his face. It’s an attractive look. She raises a hand again, and feels a stab when Reyes’ expression closes off once more. “I - one more thing. It’s just...”

“...I’m a criminal,” Reyes finishes for her, defeat making his voice wooden. 

“No, it’s… I mean, I knew you were a criminal. Crime lord, that’s a bigger one, that’s new. But it’s… I was about to stop it,” Sara admits, picking a spot on the cavern wall beside Reyes and determinedly stares at it. “...I was going to stop the sniper.”

Reyes’ expression doesn’t change, but he leans in just enough to pull her gaze back to his. “I know you have a lot of white knight in you. Why didn’t you?”

“I…” Sara swallows, and looks away again. 

He steps in again, trying to get her to look back at him without crowding her. She simultaneously appreciates it and also just wishes he would touch her in some way. Remembering his hand cradling her face in that storage room hurts.

“...Sara?” He’s so hesitant, risking her name.

“Because, in that second, I thought - if I saved her, it would have to mean… you…” She can write speeches on the fly, but trying to figure out what to say to this man was impossible. “It was you or her, right? I can… Shit. Shit!” She claps a hand to her face, breaking eye contact. “I can deal with underhanded… It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but the choice of who rules Kadara Port shouldn’t be down to who’s better at guns. I - ”

She’s unable to complete a coherent sentence, and too nervous to check what he thinks of her now. “I’m rambling. That doesn’t matter. There were so many things I thought of, but… I wanted you to live. And I’m pretty sure I wanted you to win. I, uh.” She exhales shakily. “I still want that. But it… It felt… bad.”

It sounds pathetic and childish when she can’t come up with a better word than ‘bad’, but she can’t take it back.

Reyes looks at her, utterly grave. “...I should not have put you in this position. I’m sorry.”

Sara laughs, and laughs. It comes out ugly. “Oh, don’t worry, these things just happen when you’re the Pathfinder. Making the choice for who lives or dies, who rules or dies - ”

“Sara.” Reyes makes an aborted motion to reach for her, but drops his hands to his sides. “I mean it. I didn’t realize you would come here with Sloane, but I could have done something differently when I saw you. I should have.”

“Reyes, it’s fine. I just… All I need from you is the truth.” She hesitates. “Well, at least enough truth. You’re going to rule Kadara better than Sloane did? The Initiative is welcome here? We can start to make Kadara a place to bring exiles back, and be good allies to the angara?”

“Everything within my power. Yes,” he says.

“Okay. That’s enough.” She looks at him, searching his face. She believes him. “That’s what I need. And... Um.” She puts a hand on his arm. “Less has changed than you think.” 

She lets her hand stay there for just a moment longer, then she withdraws before Reyes can reciprocate. “I need to go. I need to let the Nexus know to be ready. I’ll… I’ll find you in Kadara Port?”

He nods shakily. “If I’m not there, someone will direct you differently. I think you might know who to ask.”

She manages a smile for the first time all evening. “Right. Be mysterious. See you soon, Reyes.”


End file.
